Tropical Storm Update from ChildFund Guatemala

A few days after the eruption of the Pacaya volcano, which continues to spew ash and sand across Guatemala, Tropical Storm Agatha brought an even more challenging situation.

Strong rains have flooded the country, severely damaging infrastructure, washing out roads, bridges and homes. Rivers have flooded their banks and landslides have occurred throughout the country.

Patricia Alvarado, who works in the ChildFund Guatemala National Office, lives in the Sololá area, which was hard hit. “It was extremely difficult to watch families everywhere knowing not what to do, but trying to save their lives, their children and whatever they could,” she reports.

“I saw women carrying clothes wrapped up in wet sheets, men with stoves on their backs, mothers with children in their arms and nothing else. This unexpected event has affected the lives and well-being of those living here.”

In responding to the emergency, ChildFund Guatemala’s first priority is to protect the rights of the most vulnerable children and satisfy their basic necessities, Patricia notes.

The insufficiencies that children and families already suffer are now worsened by the disaster.

ChildFund Guatemala Area Coordinators are making every effort to obtain up-to-date information about the situation. Current reports note 10 affiliated families living in shelters and 1,100 affiliated families affected by the loss of harvest and animals. Some of the reported damages in homes include collapsed rooftops.

If you would like to help families in Guatemala, please give to the ChildAlert Emergency Fund.